Teacher Tech blog with Alice Keeler

Paperless Is Not a Pedagogy

Alice Keeler

5 Things About Google Slides You Did Not Know

5 Things You Did Not Know About Google Slides by Alice Keeler

5 Things About Google Slides You Did Not Know

5 Things About Google Slides You Did Not Know

This is a little cheating as some of these features are new so you could not have known!! Google Slides is one of my favorites. I use it to have students GIVE ME information rather than get information. Truly transformative for teaching.

5 Things You Did Not Know About Google Slides by Alice Keeler

1. Insert Video from Google Drive

When inserting video you are no longer restricted to YouTube videos. This is great news since YouTube is blocked in so many schools. Choose the 3rd option of “Google Drive” when using the Insert menu to insert video.

Insert Video by Google Drive

Sharing Settings

You want to make sure your videos are not private. It is not an issue if the videos are for you and you are the one presenting the slides. However, if you share the slides, the viewer will not be able to see the video if the video in Drive is private. Suggestion to create a video folder in Google Drive and change the sharing permissions to “Anyone with the link can view.”

Snagit

One of my favorite favorite things is Snagit. It allows me to take screenshots, make video and magically create GIF’s. One option is to save directly to Google Drive. You can now take your screen recordings and drop them into Google Drive.

Screencastify

Use the Chrome extension Screencastify (pay for the upgrade, you want all the features) to make screen recording videos (that include your face and allow you to annotate while you record). You can choose to default your videos to save to Google Drive. Easy Peasy! You can drop these screen recordings into Google Slides!

Screencastify save to Google Drive

2. Slash Create

You can create Google Slides many ways. Traditionally you go to drive.google.com and use the NEW button to create new Slides. You can also create them from the App on your phone. Going to slides.google.com was one of my favorite tricks because it was so attractively designed and gives me access to templates.

slides.google.com/create

If you throw /create to the end of slides.google.com it will automatically just create a blank Google Slides on the spot. Hands down the fastest way to create Google Slides!

3. Voice Type Speaker Notes

Hat tip to Christine Pinto for discovering this one! You can now do voice typing in the speaker notes of Google Slides. Super helpful as you should not have your presentation in text on your slides. I try to have zero words on a slide and let images tell my story. I put what I want to say into the speaker notes.  Find “Voice type speaker notes…” under the Tools menu.

voice type speaker notes

One of the 4 C’s is for students to “Clearly Communicate Their Ideas.” How can students clearly communicate their ideas with only images? This increases the creativity and critical thinking too! Students can speak their ideas into the speaker notes, but really have to know their stuff when they present the slides with no words (or maybe up to 5) on the slide.
Voice Record in the speaker notes

4. Q&A History

Google was built on collaboration. A culture shift to “we do things together.” Using the Q&A feature in Google Slides, audience members can actively participate by asking questions via a link that is automagically created. As the presenter, you can push out the questions to the presentation to allow audience members to guide the presentation or to just answer questions at the end (guess which one I prefer).
hunt for the tiny triangle

When I present I can not always get to all the questions. Even if I can I would sometimes like to revisit the questions. Under the Tools menu is “Q&A history.”
Q&A History

5. Autoplay Video

YOU CAN NOW USE VIDEO IN GOOGLE SLIDES WITH A CLICKER! (I am a tiny bit excited!) It used to be you had to click on the video to play it and then click off the video to continue the Slides presentation. A major hindrance when you were giving a presentation with a clicker and extended desktop. NO MORE!

When inserting a video into Google Slides you can now choose “Video options.” You can find this under the Format menu, in the toolbar or by right clicking on the video. This opens a side panel with the option to “Autoplay when presenting.” You can also choose a start and end time for the video which is so necessary. I usually only want to share a couple of SECONDS of a video in a presentation.
video options in Google Slides

 

5 Easy Steps for Teaching with Digital Tools

Introducing digital tools into your teaching can seem challenging at first. There are many tools out there, and it might feel like there’s a lot to learn. But with easy steps for teaching with digital tools, you can start simply and gradually. There’s no need to dive in all at once – just take it one step at a time. Taking easy steps for teaching with digital tools starts with trying something!

Read More »
Students Prepare to Present

Help Your Students Prepare to Present

Maximize student success in presentations with ‘Speaker Notes by AliceKeeler,’ the ideal Google Slides add-on. Enhance how students prepare to present with easy transfer of speaker notes to Google Docs, promoting effective communication skills. Dive into the world of engaging, technology-aided presentations and empower students to shine in their academic endeavors. Discover the key to transforming student presentations into interactive, skill-building experiences.

Read More »

Infographic 7 Basic Steps for a Google Form

New to using Google Forms? This tool is essential for teachers to not only save time but to be adaptive to student needs. Use Forms to survey students, play games, personalize instruction, and assessment. This infographic on the 7 basic steps for a Google Form will help you get started.

Read More »

Online Workshop: Get Your Add-on Published

How can you make Google Workspace (Docs/Sheets/Slides) even better? You can create custom Add-ons with Google Apps Script. Wondering How to Get Your Google Workspace Add-on Published? Join Alice Keeler, Google Developer Expert, to learn the steps to get your Add-on officially published.

Read More »

4 thoughts on “5 Things About Google Slides You Did Not Know

  1. I think the best way to create a new Slide (or Doc, Spreadsheet, etc) is to use the Google Docs Quick Create Chrome extension. It’s the best.

  2. Alice, I love these very useful ideas. Thanks for sharing. I love the one price for Snagit. I’ve been using screen-cast-o-matic and this looks better.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d